Considering all this hoopla around Tom Cruise and his religion it makes me wonder. What exactly is Scientology?
I know some guy named L. Ron Hubbard founded it. Plus, he was kind of a kook who liked to dress up as a ship captain.
Is it more of a philosophy?
Cruise's views on psychiatry got me thinking. What exactly is a "normal" state of mind? Isn't creativity a form of madness in itself? Do we want to medicate our minds until we're placated drones?
I feel that psychiatry, as a medical discipline, is still in its infant form. They have a long way to go to truly understand how the brain works.

For some people, their madness is less creative and more suicidal or homocidal. I know people for whom these drugs have been useful. There's always the argument that depression, anxiety, and other such disorders have root psychological causes that need to be dealt with in order for someone to be actually cured. However, in my experience (with several friends who take anti-depressants), such drugs are a suppliment to therapy, allowing patients to think more rationally and be more aware of their problems as well. I definitely don't think that medication for those type of disorders are a be-all end-all solution, but they shouldn't be so quickly dismissed as brain washing pills.

Well, while I don't want to get Herpes or Syphillis, I sure as hell want to be informed about them. Self-education is always good, even if you're learning about something you want to avoid.

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Believe the bad hype, is what I am saying. Spending time researching the specifics is not going to be that rewarding in instances like this one. It will reinforce the fact that TC is a nut for believing in Scientology, along with all of the other nuts.

The Gigli example is probably best, if you watched it to confirm it, you reach the same conclusion. Yup, that was bad.

I don't know much about scientology, but re: psychiatry, I do have some (informed) thoughts. I was a psych major in college, and although there is still a good deal of uncertainty to psychiatry, the same can be said of mainstream western medicine as a whole. Psychiatry has come a very long way from the Freudian "lay on the couch and tell me about how you hated your mother" crap that everyone (rightly) makes fun of.

There is something of a tendency in America to want to immediately medicate every mood swing or psychiatric "abnormality," but once again, that's a trend that is closely reflected in the rest of medicine as well. People want a quick pill or shot to take care of everything and it just doesn't work that way.

Yes, there is a great deal unknown about the workings of the human brain. Does that mean that modern psychiatry is akin to witch doctors bleeding people to cure them? Not at all. There's a lot that we do understand, and a lot that we can help treat even though we don't fully understand it.

I'm kind of intrigued by this whole Scientology thing in the same sense as with watching a car wreck, in a matter of speaking, that I'd like to infiltrate the church to discover it's inner secrets. Of course I don't have much in terms of funds. I wonder if they take Monopoly Money? I guess I could always read one of Hubbard's teachings on brainwashing with the means of convincing them to think the money is real!

What most people forget is that you can be a Christian and a Scientologist at the same time. Scientology is not a religion.

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Are you sure you don't mean Taoist and Christian?

In Scientology, neither God nor Christ are exalted. Instead, man is able to "purge" his inadequacies and negative mental images through unproven psycho-therapy which the Church of Scientology charges people thousands of dollars for. As a student of psychology, I would agree with the statement that this group represents "psychological terrorism."

As a Christian, I'm offended that they even use the cross! Do they use this symbol because it's become a universal symbol for God? The name of the group itself connotes some kind of scientific legitimacy... when this is clearly not the case.

I try to remain open but, from what I have read... Scientology is very, very sad.

You can also be Catholic and Christian at the same time. Does that mean that Catholicism isn't a religion?

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WTF? Christianity split into two sects, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox. Protestantism split from the Catholic Church, and has continuosuly split into denominations. Why do people think that Catholicism is not Christianity.

All religions require a bit (well, a lot) of cognitive dissonance. Scientology beliefs are pretty far out there, but to be fair, virgin births, parting seas, giant arcs, and buried golden tablets are out there too. I think if Scientology had the antiquity of major religions, it wouldn't be seen as so nutty. It seems like the passage of time makes incredible events seem more credible. I do think Scientology is wacky, I just don't think it's the exception.

All religions require a bit (well, a lot) of cognitive dissonance. Scientology beliefs are pretty far out there, but to be fair, virgin births, parting seas, giant arcs, and buried golden tablets are out there too. I think if Scientology had the antiquity of major religions, it wouldn't be seen as so nutty. It seems like the passage of time makes incredible events seem more credible. I do think Scientology is wacky, I just don't think it's the exception.

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Scientology is a business. A business that because of good lawyering achieved "religion" status in the US so as to avoid paying taxes.

Outside of the US, AFAIK, it is not recognized as a religion and is on government watch lists, especially in Europe. In Germany, for example, the federal agency that keeps tabs on neo-Nazis and other political extremist groups also keeps an eye on the CoS.

The SoC is also doing its best to make sure its lawyering FUD machine eliminates, or makes virtually impossible to find, sources of anti-SoC content on the web.

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